Game System painters and customizers- lend me your minds!

[omnedon]

I've recently bought (but it hasn't arrived yet) a broken NEO GEO AES console. It has an improperly installed debug BIOS, and I think the odds are very good that I can fix it. If I can fix it, I will go further, and put socketed Debug bios (or maybe Universe BIOS) into it, LED mod, S-vid, and composite and stereo mods. Cool? Well...

The exterior of the unit is supposedly pretty bad. Severe logo fade to the point that only the "NEO GEO" logo itself is still barely visible, and all other writing is now faded away.

I want to do something with it. Something special. Some of you may remember that I'm not too big on custom paint jobs and the like, because I prefer the 'factory stock' look for my collection. Nevertheless, some of the custom jobs I've seen here are truly inspired. This uglified worn out AES may be the ideal AES for a custom paint or decal job.

What I'm looking for is ideas, advice and shared experience. I am not a skilled painter in the slightest bit. I've heard that skinning consoles is a good way to go. Anyway, I want to hear what some of you think.

Style or design wise, I'm not sure what the best thing to do would be. What pops into my mind initially, is something radical, but still true to the NEO GEO. I'm thinking mimicing a Candy Cab.

An AES looks like this: http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:WtNH2sygOw4J:www.videogamebible.com/Articles courtesy of the videogamebible.com

A Neo candy Cab looks like this: http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/images/N/cNeo_Geo_MVS.jpg courtesy of klov.com

I'm thinking red, for the top half of the AES, maybe leaving the slot doors black (or painting them white?) . The NEO GEO logo in white lettering (proper font of course) where the old logo was, but bigger, Candy Cab style.

I definitely do NOT want to mimic the original AES exterior, as that would be counterfeit, and in the Neo community, that is very very bad. This has to be an obvious custom job, whatever design I go with.

So, I'm blue skying here. Ideas? Tips? Offers to do it? LOL If someone did want to step up to do it, I would pay or trade something for the work, but I can't pay an arm and a leg. If someone could do a digital image, that could be transferred to a decal, that too would be very cool. The designer would be welcome to have a credit and sig directly on the decal too.

Waddya think? :)

[chadtower]

If you can get the board fixed, get an empty arcade cab and put it in there...

[ehall]

Well, basically I took the Neo Geo we have now. Then I added some fins to lower wind resistance, and this racing stripe I feel is pretty sharp. :D

I just wanted to put my vote in for the cab scheme. I like this idea.


Racing stripes are cool though.

[Daria]

This is just a quick mock up. Obviously the angles are a bit off and the candy stripes need to be measured. But did you have something like this in mind?

http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/felixkatz/neogeo.htm

Note: Cartridge slot might look better black.
________
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[omnedon]

I have no cab, and I live in a crowded townhouse. No cabs in my near future.


Daria's idea was what i was thinking of. :)

[FABombjoy]

You could knit a "Neo sweater" to put over the broken console...

Or put diamond-plate steel on it and make it an "Offroad edition"

Or build a new shell out of legos & try to mimick the design of the original.

Have you fixed AES units before? Man there's a lot going on inside there. If it was a botched BIOS install, check for solder splatters, especially under the cart connectors.

If you do the s-video mod, I recommend that you build the bulk of the mod on a perfboard & install it "module style". See ->this (http://labwww.csv.cmich.edu/luke/videogames/SNK/NeoGeo/svideo-jp/ngaesjpsvid019-tb.html)<- page for an example (the system that I modded for Gamereviewgod). If you build it on top of the logic chips like the neogeousa.com instructions say, it's about 10x more frustrating.

Oh yeah, if you get hum bars in your picture (or 60Hz through your speakers), clip the ground lead to the audio jacks. It works just fine and gets rid of the problem.

[omnedon]

Thanks for the tips. I've modded my personal AES, with the exception of the S-vid. I was thinking the same thing, that building the curcuit on perfboard seemed to be a cleaner solution. I don't like the look of the 'slapped on' one.

I socketed the BIOS in my AES. 8-) It's got the regular debug right now, but I can swap in the Universe bios if I go get it. I still have the old BIOS I pulled out of my AES too, just in case this system may need it.

This coming AES was bought on the cheap (for AES systems anyway). When I'm done with it (custom Mega Neo), I should do OK on it. :)

[chadtower]

After thinking on this a bit more, a tabletop arcade cabinet would be what I'd be inclined to do. You just can't beat arcade controls, and with the heavy fighter popultion in the NG library, it's even more important. Build a tabletop arcade cabinet with an RGB monitor (assuming there's an RGB mod out there someplace).

[davidleeroth]

Man, you gotta go with white and blue led:

http://www.students.tut.fi/~tiainen2/images/aes.gif

Multicolor paintjobs make the look unprofessional IMO.

[omnedon]

That has some merits.


@chadtower
I'm a console collector, not an arcade cab collector. :) Wouldn't some cheap MVS guts be just as suited (if not better suited) to such a project?

"Looks it's consolized AES!!" It would look like a consolized MVS, but would still only play the pricey AES games. All ideas ARE appreciated, as I churn the ideas though my mind. :)